Professional Fellows On-Demand 2019 Emerging Leaders Exchange for Northern Ireland and Republic of IrelandSponsored by the U.S. Department of State Office of Citizen Exchanges and USAID

EBCDA's Youth Work Coordinator Amy Ashe was selected to participate in this two-way exchange program for young professionals from Northern Ireland (NI) Republic of Ireland (ROI), and the United States (US) who are active in their communities working with marginalized youth. The group was made up of 12 emerging leaders from NI and 4 from the ROI and visited Washington, DC, Minneapolis, MN , Tulsa, OK, New York City, NY.

During their time in the US they exchanged ideas and strategies on best youth work practices. They also explored new models of work that have the potential to enhance our engagement with local marginalised young people in Northern Ireland.

Some of these practices included:

Addressing violence among young people through a public health approach;

Developing job skills and self-empowerment;

Mentorship program that addresses youth mental health needs;

Youth empowerment and youth entrepreneurship;

Social entrepreneurship for youth homelessness;

Based on various discussions it soon become apart that many issues being experienced within local communities in NI and ROI are in fact global problems that countries across the world are also experiencing. The need to identify linkages with counterparts across the world becomes ever more apparent. The group are now looking at how the practices and models can be implemented and look forward to welcoming our US counterparts to Northern Ireland in December.